Somali Americans Reflect on One of the Most Dangerous Countries in the World for Christians

‘Imagine being a young child and learning of your father’s torture and death,’ said a Somali woman living in Irvine.

Somali Americans Joseph and Nasri Mohamad in Irvine, Calif., on July 8, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

IRVINE, Calif.—It was while taking an exam with her fellow elementary school students that Nasri Mohamad, now 44, heard the sounds of gunfire that started the Somali Civil War that led to the eventual collapse of the East African nation in 1991.

“My school was in the Somali capital city of Mogadishu at the time,” Ms. Mohamad told The Epoch Times. “The government troops of then-Somali President Siad Barre tried to fight back against the rebel Islamic rebel factions, but they would soon disperse after he fled south to neighboring Kenya.”